Communication terminal apparatus and method for supplying terminal power source

ABSTRACT

A communication terminal that includes a wireless communication unit used to communicate with another communication terminal, a power transmitting unit that transmits contactless electric power to the another communication terminal, and a control unit that controls the wireless communication unit to transmit, to the another communication terminal, an instruction for receiving the contactless electric power transmitted from the power transmitting unit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of the earlier filing date ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/380,922 filed on Sep. 8,2010, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a communication terminal apparatus tobe applied to a terminal provided with a wireless communicationfunction, such as a mobile phone terminal apparatus, and also relates amethod for supplying a terminal power source, which can be applied tosuch a communication terminal apparatus. In particular, the presentinvention relates to a technology for supplying electric power to aterminal apparatus using a contactless charging function.

2. Description of the Related Art

In recent years, a charging apparatus or the like has been provided forsupplying electric power to a separate terminal apparatus in acontactless state with no connection of a power-supplying terminal orthe like to supply electric power to the inner secondary battery of theterminal apparatus.

Heretofore, an electromagnetic induction system has been known as asystem for contactless power transmission. According to such a system, apower-transmitting coil is arranged on an apparatus on apower-transmitting side and a power-receiving coil is arranged on anapparatus on a power-receiving side. Then, the portion of the apparatuson the transmission-side, on which the power-transmitting coil isarranged, is brought near to the portion of the apparatus on thepower-receiving side, on which the power-receiving coil is arranged.Thus, these coils are brought into magnetic flux connection to allowthem to perform power transmission in a contactless manner.

For example, as shown in FIG. 13, a power-transmitting coil 11 isarranged on a terminal apparatus 10 a and a power-receiving coil 12 isarranged on another terminal apparatus 10 b. Furthermore, like the stateshown in FIG. 13, the power-receiving coil 12 of the terminal apparatus10 b is allowed to receive the electric power from thepower-transmitting coil 11 of the terminal apparatus 10 a in proximityto each other.

In the terminal apparatus 10 b on the power-receiving side, the receivedpower can be provided for charging the inner secondary battery of theterminal apparatus 10 b or the operation of the terminal apparatus 10 b.

The electromagnetic method has been known as a technology forcontactless power transmission. However, it can transmit electric poweronly between apparatuses just proximal to each other because of atransmissible range of several millimeters. Therefore, the applicationof the electromagnetic induction type is limited to some of apparatuses,such as a water-proof type terminal, which is difficult to expose itscharging terminal.

In recent years, as an alternative system for effectively supplyingelectric power to a terminal apparatus located at some distance, aso-called magnetic resonance system has been developed, proceedingtoward practical use. In this system, an LC circuit, which includes acoil and a conductor, is installed in each of the power-transmittingside apparatus and the power-receiving side apparatus. A combination ofthe LC circuits on the respective apparatuses causes resonance ofelectric field/magnetic field between them to perform wirelesstransmission of electric power. In order to produce resonance ofelectric field/magnetic field between their circuits, their frequenciesare kept equal to each other.

In the case of the magnetic resonance method, it is possible to attain ashort-distance transmission of from about several centimeters to severalmeters. Furthermore, if there are two or more power-receiving sideapparatuses within a power transmittable area, a single apparatus on thepower-transmitting side may transmit electric power simultaneously totwo or more apparatuses on the power-receiving side.

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, three terminal apparatuses 20 a, 20 b,and 20 c are located in close proximity to one another. The terminalapparatus 20 a is provided with a magnetic resonance typepower-transmitting coil 21 and the terminal apparatuses 20 b and 20 care provided with magnetic resonance type power-transmitting coils 22,respectively. Two terminal apparatuses 20 b and 20 c are arranged in thepower transmissible area Ap of the terminal apparatus 20 a.

Under such conditions, if three terminal apparatuses 20 a, 20 b, and 20c have the same resonant frequency, the single terminal apparatus 20 asends electric power simultaneously to two terminal apparatuses 20 b and20 c. However, each of the terminal apparatuses 20 b and 20 c canreceive almost half the power, compared with one received by a singleterminal apparatus.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-63245describes the supply of power by a magnetic resonance method in which apower-receiving side is selected from candidate apparatuses withreference to their resonant frequencies.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-148151describes the application of contactless charge to a wirelesscommunication terminal apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A comparatively wide power transmissible area may be defined to performmagnetic resonance power transmission. As shown in FIG. 14, electricpower can be transmitted to all the terminal apparatuses provided withpower-receiving coils in the power transmissible area. In somesituations, however, the user using the terminal apparatus on thepower-transmitting side intends to transfer intends to transmit electricpower to only a certain terminal apparatus.

For example, in some situations, the user intends to transfer electricpower from the terminal apparatus 20 a to the terminal apparatus 20 bbut not to another terminal apparatus 20 c in the same powertransmissible area Ap. Specifically, for example, if one user possessestwo terminal apparatuses 20 a and 20 b and a nearby terminal apparatus20 c belongs to another user and the remaining power of the battery inthe terminal apparatus 20 b decreases, the user intends to transmitelectric power from the terminal apparatus 20 a to the terminalapparatus 20 b using the battery in the terminal apparatus 20 a. In thiscase, however, undesired transmission of electric power to anotherterminal apparatus 20 c also occurs. Therefore, the terminal apparatus20 b becomes difficult to receive a sufficient amount of electric poweras expected.

As described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2010-63245, the setup of resonant frequency allows the user toselectively transmit electric power to only the specific terminalapparatus. However, if there are two or more terminal apparatuses withthe same resonant frequency in the neighborhood, such a kind of theselection may be difficult.

It is desirable to overcome the aforementioned problem caused whenperforming contactless power transmission between terminal apparatuses.

Any embodiment of the present invention is applied to contactlesstransmission of electric power from a first communication terminalapparatus to a second communication terminal apparatus.

First, wireless communication is performed from the first communicationterminal apparatus to the second communication terminal apparatusdirectly or via a base station. Then, the first communication terminalapparatus instructs the second communication terminal apparatus ofconditions about transmission of electric power.

Subsequently, the first communication terminal apparatus performscontactless transmission of electric power under the conditions whichhave been instructed. Then, the second communication terminal apparatus,which has received the instruction, performs a process for powerreception where electric power is received in a contactless manner underthe conditions obtained by the received instruction.

Therefore, the transmission of electric power is started under theconditions instructed by the first communication terminal apparatus.Only the second communication terminal apparatus, where power receptionis performed under the specified conditions, is allowed to receive theelectric power. Consequently, contactless power transmission isestablished between the specified terminal apparatuses.

According to any of the embodiments of the present invention, thetransmission and reception of electric power can be performed under theconditions specified via wireless communication when contactless powertransmission is performed between the terminal apparatuses. Thus,contactless power transmission can be performed only between thespecified terminal apparatuses. Therefore, even in the presence of manyneighboring apparatuses which are capable of contactless powertransmission, the user can establish intended contactless powertransmission between specified terminal apparatuses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating exemplary systemconfiguration and operation status according to a first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary inner configurationof a terminal apparatus according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a power transmission stateusing two terminal apparatuses according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process for powertransmission according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an exemplary display at thetime of the power transmission according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an exemplary display during thepower transmission according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an exemplary innerconfiguration of a head set according to a second embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a power transmission statebetween the terminal apparatus and the head set according to the secondembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a process for powertransmission according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary inner configurationof a charging pod according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a power transmissionstate among the terminal apparatus, head set, and charging pod accordingto the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the outline of powertransmission state according to any embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of powertransmission using a typical electromagnetic induction system; and

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of powertransmission using a typical magnetic resonance system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to accompanying drawings in the following order:

1.1. Principle of process performed in first embodiment (FIG. 1);

1.2. Exemplary configuration of terminal apparatus according to firstembodiment (FIG. 2 and FIG. 3);

1.3. Exemplary process for power transmission performed between two ormore terminal apparatuses in first embodiment (FIG. 4, FIG. 5, and FIG.6);

2.1. Exemplary configuration of head set according to second embodiment(FIG. 7);

2.2. Exemplary process of second embodiment (FIG. 8 and FIG. 9)

2.3. Exemplary configuration of charge stand of third embodiment (FIG.10);

3. Exemplary configuration of third embodiment (FIGS. 11); and

4. Modified example (FIG. 12).

[1.1. Principle of Process Performed in First Embodiment]

First, the principle for a process for contactless power transmissionbetween terminal apparatuses according to a first embodiment of thepresent invention will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

In the present embodiment, contactless power transmission is designed toperform power supply based on a magnetic resonance system. FIG. 1illustrates three communication terminal apparatuses 100 a, 100 b, and100 c. Basically, these communication terminal apparatuses 100 a, 100 b,and 100 c are designed to be wireless communication terminals having thesame configuration so that they can perform wireless communication witha wireless communication base station BS. Then, a telephone line isestablished between the terminal apparatuses of communication partiesthrough the base station Bs or the like. Although the base station BS isconnected to a communication control center through a wireless telephonenetwork transmission line and controls wireless communication betweenthe base station BS and each wireless communication terminal.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, three communication terminal apparatuses100 a, 100 b, and 100 c are capable of power reception and powertransmission. Among them, a single communication terminal device 100 ais used as one on the power-transmitting side, which transmits powerstored in a secondary battery installed on the terminal apparatus.Furthermore, the communication terminal apparatus 100 b receiveselectric power transmitted from the communication terminal apparatus 100a and is then used as a terminal on the power-receiving side to chargethe secondary battery.

Therefore, the communication terminal apparatus 100 b on thepower-receiving side is located on a power transmissible area Ap wherethe communication terminal apparatus 100 a can transmit electric powerto the communication terminal apparatus 100 b. In addition, thecommunication terminal device 100 c is also present in the communicationtransmissible area Ap.

In the present invention, the communication terminal apparatus 100 a onthe power-transmitting end and the communication terminal apparatus 100b on the power-receiving end are designed to carry out data transmissionusing a wireless communication network through the base station BS toallow the transmission side to perform power transmission underspecified conditions. In addition, the power-receiving side is alsodesigned to perform power reception. Here, the conditions to bespecified from the power-transmitting side include resonant frequenciessetup by the power-transmitting coil 132 and the power-receiving coil133. Therefore, each communication terminal apparatuses 100 a, 100 b,and 100 c are designed so that they can change their respective resonantfrequencies when performing contactless power.

As described above, the resonant frequency of the communication terminalapparatus 100 a on the power-transmitting side is set to be equal to theresonant frequency of the communication terminal apparatus 100 b toallow the communication terminal apparatus 100 a to transmit electricpower to the communication terminal apparatus 100 b in a contactlessmanner (i.e., contactless power transmission Pa).

In addition, another communication terminal apparatus 100 c does nothave a specified resonant frequency. Thus, any specified resonantfrequency is not defined and contactless power transmission Pz is notperformed. Therefore, selective contactless power transmission isperformed among the communication terminal apparatuses 100 a, 100 b, and100 c.

[1.2. Terminal Device Exemplary Configuration of First Embodiment]

Referring now to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the configuration of an exemplarycommunication terminal apparatus according to the present invention willbe described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary internalconfiguration of a communication terminal apparatus 100 as an example ofthe present embodiment. The communication terminal apparatus shown inFIG. 2 is a small-sized wireless telephone terminal apparatus in aportable form, corresponding to each of the communication terminalapparatuses 100 a, 100 b, and 100 c shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the configuration of the communication terminalapparatus 100 will be described. The communication terminal apparatus100 includes an antenna for wireless telephone antenna connected to acommunication circuit that serves as a wireless communication unit. Thecommunication circuit 102 performs wireless communication with awireless telephone base station under control of a control unit 120.

During voice communication, audio data included in data received by thecommunication circuit 102 is supplied to an audio processing unit 103.Then, audio data is decoded to obtain an analog audio signal. Theacquired audio signal is supplied to a speaker 104.

Furthermore, an audio signal is obtained by a microphone 105 and thensupplied to the audio processing unit 103. Subsequently, the audioprocessing unit 103 encodes the audio signal into predetermined audiodata. Then, the obtained audio data is supplied to the communicationcircuit 102 and transmitted by wireless communication.

These processing units, such as the communication circuit 102 and theaudio processing unit 103, are able to swap control data with thecontrol unit 120 via a control line 150 and perform transmission ofrespective data via a data line 160.

The control unit 120 receives operation data from an operation unit 106having keys, a touch panel, and so on, which can be operated by the userand then performs a process instructed by the operation data.

The communication terminal apparatus 100 includes a display unit 107constructed of an image display panel, a driving circuit thereof, and soon. The control unit 120 controls the display of the display unit 107.The display unit 107 displays a screen desired for transmission andreception when serving as a wireless telephone terminal apparatus, ascreen for representation of the context of a received or transmittedelectric mail, a screen for an image obtained by Internet connection,and so on, which are involved in execution of various functions of theterminal apparatus 100. The display unit 107 performs notification tothe user to be used in contactless power transmission described later iscarried out by the display unit 107 under control of the control unit120.

The control unit 120 is connected to a memory 108 via the control line150 and the data line 160 to store various kinds of data desired for thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 in the memory 108. In addition, aprogram for execution of the contactless power transmission describedlater is also stored in the memory 108.

Furthermore, the communication terminal apparatus 100 includes ashort-range wireless communication unit 111 that perform short rangecommunication and a short-range communication antenna 112 connected tothe short-range wireless communication unit 111. The short-rangewireless communication unit 111 is a processing unit that performswireless communication with a terminal apparatus located at a distanceof several meters or about 100 meters at a maximum. The short-rangewireless communication may employ a generally called wireless local areanetwork (wireless LAN), such as a short-distance wireless communicationsystem, a Bluetooth (trademark) system, or an infrared transmissionsystem.

In addition, the communication terminal apparatus 100 includes aprocessing unit for performing contactless power transmission. In otherwords, a contactless power-transmitting control unit 131 is connected tothe control line 150. The contactless power-transmitting control unit131 is connected to a contactless power-transmitting coil unit 132serving as a power transmission unit and a contactless power-receivingcoil unit 133 serving as a power reception unit. Under control of thecontactless power-transmitting control unit 131, a process fortransmitting electric power accumulated in the secondary battery 142from the contactless power-transmitting coil unit 132 and a process forcharging the secondary battery 142 using electric power received by thecontactless power-receiving coil unit 133 are performed. In the case ofthe example of the present embodiment, a magnetic resonance system isemployed to perform the power transmission from the contactlesspower-transmitting coil unit 132 and the power reception in thepower-receiving coil unit 133. A resonant frequency at the time of powertransmission from the contactless power-transmitting coil unit 132 and aresonant frequency at the time of power reception in the power-receivingcoil unit 133 are variable. For example, the resonant frequency may varyin multiple stages or may vary continuously. The contactlesspower-transmitting control unit 131 defines the resonant frequency basedon instructions from the control unit 120. In addition when thecontactless power-transmitting control unit 131 controls powertransmission or power reception, it performs communication with aterminal apparatus of a communication partner to perform contactlesspower transmission with the confirmed partner under control of thecontrol unit 210. In addition, the resonant frequency of powertransmission or power reception is also determined by communication forconfirming the partner.

If the contactless power-receiving coil unit 133 receives electricpower, then the contactless power-transmitting control unit 131transmits instructions to the charge control unit 141 and then chargesthe secondary battery 142 using the received power. The charge controlunit 141 is a processing unit that controls charging when thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 is connected to a battery charger(not shown) and also controls charging using the power received by thecontactless power-receiving coil 133.

Furthermore, in the case of transmitting electric power from thecontactless power-transmitting coil unit 132, the contactlesspower-transmitting control unit 131 transmits the power taken out fromthe secondary battery 142 to the partner's terminal apparatus. However,if the terminal apparatus 100 involved in power transmission isconnected to a certain external power source, the power may betransmitted from the external power source.

The battery checker 143 is designed to measure the remaining chargeamount of the secondary battery 142. The battery checker 143 sends thedata of the measured remaining charge amount of the secondary battery142 to the control unit 120. Here, the secondary battery 142 may be alithium ion storage battery or may be any kind of power accumulationdevice.

Two communication terminal apparatuses 100 each having the configurationshown in FIG. 2 are prepared and one of them is on a power-receivingside and the other is on a power-receiving side. Thus, contactless powertransmission between two communication terminal apparatuses 100 at acertain distance from each other can perform contactless can beperformed.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 3, a communication terminal apparatus100 a on the power-transmitting side and a communication terminalapparatus 100 b on the power-receiving side are prepared. Then, powertransmission Pa is performed from the contactless power-transmittingcoil unit 132 of the communication terminal apparatus 100 a on thepower-transmitting side to the contactless power-receiving coil unit 133of the communication terminal apparatus on the power-receiving side. Inthis embodiment, when contactless power transmission Pa is performed,wireless communication is performed using the wireless communicationcircuits 102 of the respective communication terminal apparatuses 100 aand 100 b to make a connection between the communication terminalapparatus 100 a on the power-transmitting side and the communicationterminal apparatus 100 b on the power-receiving side through a wirelesscommunication network via a base station BS. Then, the instructionsabout conditions for power transmission are transmitted from thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 a on the power-transmitting side tothe communication terminal apparatus 100 b on the power-receiving sideto perform contactless power transmission therebetween under theinstructed conditions.

[1.3. Exemplary Process for Power Transmission Performed Between Two orMore Terminal Apparatuses in First Embodiment]

Referring next to the flow chart shown in FIG. 4, a concrete example ofa process for contactless power transmission between the communicationterminal apparatus 100 a on the power-transmitting side and thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 b on the power-receiving side willbe described. In the flow chart shown in FIG. 4, steps S11 to S20 on theleft side of the figure are provided for the process performed in thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 a on the power-transmitting sideand the steps S21 to S28 on the right side of the figure are providedfor the process performed in the communication terminal apparatus 100 bon the power-receiving side. The processes in the communication terminalapparatuses 100 a and 100 b are carried out under control of theircontrol units 120, respectively.

First, in the communication terminal apparatus 100 a on thepower-transmitting side, a process for searching a partner to whom powertransmission is desired (step S11). Here, for example, using a phonebook function or the like prepared for a telephone terminal, the phonenumber or the like of the registered user's terminal to specify thepartner's terminal apparatus. Alternatively, if the partner is anunregistered one, then the user may input the partner's phone number andso on into the user's terminal apparatus. If the partner for powertransmission is determined, then the amount of power to be transmittedis input into the user's terminal device (step S12). The amount of powermay be input while being converted into the rate of the remaining amountof the battery as described later.

Subsequently, the control unit 120 of the communication terminalapparatus 100 a carries out display of confirming the start of powertransmission on the display unit 106 to determine whether a confirmingoperation is performed using such a displayed screen (step S13). Forexample, the display unit 106 displays “Do you wish to perform powertransmission?”. If the user's operation selects “Yes”, an electronicpower transmission program is performed. If the user's operation selects“No”, then the process is ended.

If step S13 determines that it is instructed to start powertransmission, then contactless communication to a base station isperformed using the communication circuit 102 to carry out acommunication process that makes a call to the partner's terminalapparatus 100 b selected at step S11 via the wireless telephone network(step s14). At this time, data about the conditions of powertransmission is transmitted via the wireless telephone network. Theconditions of power transmission include data of resonant frequency f1for power transmission from the contactless power-transmitting coil unit132. Here, the contactless power-transmitting coil unit 132 may alsotransfer other conditions, such as the amount of power to be transmittedand time period of power transmission.

If the conditions of power transmission are transmitted, then thecontactless power-transmitting control unit 131 of the communicationterminal apparatus 100 a starts power transmission from the contactlesspower-transmitting coil unit 132 at resonant frequency f1 (step S15).

The communication terminal apparatus 100 b on the power-receiving sidereceives an incoming call from the wireless telephone network (step S21)and obtains the conditions of power transmission, such as resonantfrequency f1, from the data via the incoming line (step S22).

If the communication terminal apparatus 100 b acquires the data ofresonant frequency f1, then the contactless power-transmitting controlunit 131 thereof adjusts the resonant frequency for power reception inthe contactless power-receiving coil unit 133 to the instructed resonantfrequency f1, thereby initiating the power transmission (step S23). Thestart of power reception permits the communication terminal apparatus100 b on the receiving side to receive electric power transmitted instep S15 and then starts charging of the secondary battery 142 in theapparatus 100 b.

In the contactless power-transmitting control unit 141 in thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 b on the power-receiving sidedetermines whether the charging of the secondary battery 142 by thepower reception is started (step S24). If this determination does notdetect the start of power reception, then the communication terminalapparatus 100 b transmits a charging error to its partner'scommunication terminal apparatus 100 a through the connected wirelesstelephone line. After transmitting the charging error, the wirelesstelephone line is cut off (step S28) and the process is ended. If thecharging error occurs, the display unit 107 of the communicationterminal device 100 b on the power-receiving side may notify the user ofsuch an error.

After determining that the power reception is started in step S24, thecommunication terminal device 100 b on the power-receiving side informsthe partner's communication terminal device 100 a of a fact that thesecondary battery 142 is on charge with the received power, followed bycutting off the wireless telephone line (step S25).

The communication terminal apparatus 100 a on the transmission side cutsoff the wireless telephone line after receiving the response from thepower-receiving communication terminal apparatus 100 b (step S16). Then,the communication terminal apparatus 100 a determines whether thereceived response is “on charge” (step S25) or “charge error (step S28)(step S17).

In this step, if it is determined that the charge error occurs, then thepower transmission is terminated. At this time, “stopping powertransmission” may be displayed on the display unit 107. If it isdetermined that the charging is going on, then the battery checker 143measures the remaining power amount of the battery is measured andmonitors the amount of transmitted power (step S18). It is determinedwhether the monitored amount of transmitted power reaches apredetermined amount of transmitted power defined in step S12 (stepS19), then the power transmission is ended when reached (step S20).Also, “power transmission ended” may be displayed on the display unit107 when the amount of transmitted power reaches the predetermined leveland the power transmission is ended.

On the other hand, in the communication terminal apparatus 100 b on thepower-receiving side, it is determined whether the contactlesspower-transmitting control unit 131 keeps on receiving power even aftertransmitting the message “on charge” in step S25 (step S26). Thisdetermination is repeated as long as the charging by the power receptionis continued. Furthermore, if it is determined that the power receptionis stopped, then the contactless power-transmitting control unit 131halts the power reception of the contactless power-receiving coil unit133 and the charging by the power reception (step S27). If the chargingby the power reception is ended, then the message “charging ended” maybe displayed on the display unit 107.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 illustrate screens displayed on the display unit 106of the communication terminal apparatus 100 a on the power-transmittingside, respectively.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary display when the partner and the amount oftransmitted power are determined in steps S11 and S12 of the flow chartshown in FIG. 4.

As shown in FIG. 5, the display unit 106 displays the telephone numberand the registered designation (name) of the partner's terminalapparatus, and the amount of power to be transmitted. The amount ofpower to be transmitted may be represented by the percentage of batterycapacity. For example, it may be represented by “donate up to XX % ofbattery capacity”.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary display based on the remaining power of thebattery (the remaining amount of power storage) when the communicationterminal apparatus 100 a starts power transmission from thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 a on the power-transmitting side.The display shown in FIG. 6 represents a notice that notifies the userof a comparatively small remaining amount of the secondary battery 142in the communication terminal apparatus 100 a on the power-transmittingside when the power transmission is completed.

In FIG. 6, in other words, the display represents a message of “Theremaining capacity of this mobile phone is 30% or less. Do you stilldonate?” to urge the user to confirm that power transmission haspriority even when the remaining capacity of its own terminal is notlarger than a predetermined remaining amount of the own terminal. Thenotice on the display is not only generated when the power transmissionis started but also generated in the case of a decrease in remainingbattery power when any operation is performed in the terminal device onthe power-transmitting site during the period of power transmission.

Therefore, the communication terminal apparatus on thepower-transmitting side sends a call to the communication terminalapparatus on the power-receiving side to adjust the resonant frequencyof the latter apparatus to be equal to that of the former, followed byperforming contactless power transmission. As a result reliable powertransmission between specified terminal apparatuses can be performed.

In other words, already as shown in FIG. 1, the contactless powertransmission from the communication terminal apparatus 100 a to thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 b can be performed, while the poweris not transmitted to another communication terminal apparatus 100 c inthe power transmissible area Ab. It is noted that the resonant frequencydefined using such a wireless telephone network may be preferablydifferent from one used in the contactless power transmission which isnot carried out by the process of the present embodiment. In this way,the resonant frequency of the communication terminal apparatuses 100 aand 100 b can be surely prevented from corresponding to the resonantfrequency of another communication terminal apparatus 100 c.

[2.1. Exemplary Configuration of Head Set According to SecondEmbodiment]

Hereinafter, an example of a second embodiment of the present inventionwill be described with reference to FIG. 7 to FIG. 10. In these figures,structural components corresponding to those described in the firstembodiment will be designated by the same reference numerals as those inFIG. 1 to FIG. 6.

In this embodiment, a communication terminal apparatus 100 and a headset200 are prepared and designed to perform contactless power transmissionbetween them.

The configuration of the communication terminal apparatus 100 is thesame as one which has been described in the first embodiment withreference to FIG. 2. In the present embodiment, however, a short-rangewireless communication unit 111 of the communication terminal apparatus100 is designed to directly perform wireless communication with aspecified communication partner previously registered using theBluetooth (trademark) system.

Here, the term “direct wireless communication” means that wirelesscommunication is performed without passing through a base station. Theycan perform wireless communication as long as they are located within adistance of several meters or about 100 meters at a maximum.

Referring now to a block diagram shown in FIG. 7, the configuration ofthe head set 200 will be described.

The head set 200 is an apparatus that performs two-way wireless transferof audio data with a partner's terminal apparatus (communicationterminal apparatus 100) using the Bluetooth wireless communication.Specifically, the head set 200 is attached on the head or the like ofthe user and collects voice spoken by the user and brings the partner'svoice into the ears of the user.

The head set 200 is provided with a short-range wireless communicationunit 221 connected with a short-range wireless communication antenna222. The short-range wireless communication unit 221 is a communicationprocessing unit which is designed to directly perform wirelesscommunication with a specified communication partner previouslyregistered using the Bluetooth (trademark) system. Here, the term“specific partner” is one that serves as a communication terminalapparatus 100 having the same configuration as one shown in FIG. 2.

During voice communication, audio data included in data received by theshort-range wireless communication unit 221 is supplied to an audioprocessing unit 201. Then, audio data is decoded to obtain an analogaudio signal. The acquired audio signal is supplied to a speaker 202.For example, the speaker 202 may be one built in an earphone to beattached near the ears of the user.

Furthermore, an audio signal is obtained by a microphone 203 thatcollects voice spoken by the user. Then, the audio signal is supplied tothe audio processing unit 201. Subsequently, the audio processing unit201 encodes the audio signal into predetermined audio data. Then, theobtained audio data is supplied to the communication circuit 221 andtransmitted by wireless communication.

These processing units, such as the short-distance communication unit221 and the audio processing unit 201, are able to swap control datawith the control unit 210 via a control line 250. In addition, theseprocessing units perform transmission of respective data via a data line260.

The control unit 210 receives operation data from an operation unit 206operated by the user and then performs a process instructed by theoperation data.

The head set 200 includes a display unit 204 constructed of variouskinds of pilot lamps and so on. The control unit 210 controls thedisplay of the display unit 204. For example, the display unit 204 maydisplay a fact that the reception of power from a contactless powertransmission is performed as described later under control of thecontrol unit 210.

The control unit 210 is connected to a memory 205 via a control line 250and a data line 260 to store various kinds of data which can be used inthe head set 200. The memory 205 also stores a program for execution ofthe contactless power transmission described later.

The short-range wireless communication unit 221 may perform short-rangewireless communication using any communication system other than theBluetooth system. The short-range wireless communication may employ agenerally called wireless local area network (wireless LAN), such as ashort-distance wireless communication system or an infrared transmissionsystem.

In addition, the head set 200 includes a processing unit for performingcontactless power transmission. In other words, a contactlesspower-transmitting control unit 232 is connected to the control line250. The contactless power-transmitting control unit 232 is connected toa contactless power-receiving coil unit 231 serving as a power receptionunit. Furthermore, a process for charging a secondary battery 234 usingelectric power received by the contactless power-receiving coil unit 231is carried out under control of the contactless power-transmittingcontrol unit 232. In the case of the example of the present embodiment,the power reception by the contact power-receiving coil unit 231 isperformed using a magnetic resonance system. The resonant frequency ofthe contactless power-receiving coil unit 231 at the time of powerreception is variable. For example, the resonant frequency may vary inmultiple stages or may vary continuously. The contactlesspower-transmitting control unit 131 defines the resonant frequency basedon instructions from the control unit 120. In addition when thecontactless power-transmitting control unit 232 controls powerreception, it performs communication with a terminal apparatus of acommunication partner to perform contactless power transmission with theconfirmed partner under control of the control unit 210. In addition,the resonant frequency of power transmission is also determined bycommunication for confirming the partner.

If the contactless power-receiving coil unit 231 receives electricpower, then the contactless power-transmitting control unit 232transmits instructions to the charge control unit 233 and then chargesthe secondary battery 234 using the received power. The charge controlunit 233 is a processing unit that controls charging when the head set200 is connected to a battery charger (not shown) and also controlscharging using the power received by the contactless power-receivingcoil 231.

The battery checker 235 is designed to measure the remaining chargeamount of the secondary battery 234. The battery checker 235 sends thedata of the measured remaining charge amount of the secondary battery234 to the control unit 210. Here, the secondary battery 234 may be alithium ion storage battery or may be any kind of power accumulationdevice.

[2.2. Exemplary Process of Second Embodiment]

Referring now to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, an exemplary process of the presentembodiment will be described.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the wirelesscommunication terminal 100 (mobile phone terminal 100) and the head set200 are closed to each other within an area where they can communicatewith each other in a contactless manner. Furthermore, the electric powercharged in the secondary battery 142 of the wireless communicationterminal 100 is transmitted to the head set 200 by contactless powertransmission to charge the second battery 234. At this time, thewireless communication terminal 100 and the head set 200 perform aprocess for synchronizing their resonant frequencies of wireless byperforming wireless communication with each other using the short-rangewireless communication units 111 and 221, respectively.

A flow chart shown in FIG. 9 illustrates an example of a state wherepower transmission is performed between the wireless communicationterminal 100 and the head set 200. In FIG. 9, the process performed inthe wireless communication terminal 100 includes steps S41 to S49illustrated on the left side and the process performed in the head set200 includes steps S31 to S39.

Here, the process will be described with reference to FIG. 9. First, thehead set 200 starts a process for monitoring a remaining amount ofbattery and determines whether the remaining amount of the secondarybuttery 234 is small (step S31). Here, if there is an enough remainingamount of the secondary battery, then the determination is repeated atany time.

If it is determined that the remaining amount of the secondary batteryis small, then a message representing that the remaining amount of thesecondary battery is small is transmitted to the communication terminalapparatus 100 which is a partner of audio data transmission in wirelesscommunication using the short-range wireless communication unit 221(step S32). After that, a process for waiting a response to the wirelesscommunication is performed. It is determined whether the process is timeout as a predetermined time passes (Step S33). If it is timing out, theprocess in this step is terminated. Then, the request of charging isnotified by the display on the display unit 204 or sounds from thespeaker 202 (step S34).

On the other hand, the communication terminal apparatus 100 which hasreceived the message in step S32 starts a power distribution operationand notifies the user of an insufficient remaining amount of thesecondary battery in the head set by display on the display unit 107 oraudio output from the speaker 104 of the communication terminalapparatus 100 (step S41). Then, the user who has confirmed thisnotification is allowed to select whether a process for dividing thepower is performed (step S42). If the user selects that the power is notdivided, then this fact is informed to the head set 200 by short-rangewireless communication (step S43). The head set 200 which is informed ofthis notification sends out a message alerting the requirement ofcharging in step S34 even before timing out of the step S33 has beentimed out.

In step S42, furthermore, if the user selects the process for dividingthe power, then the short-range wireless communication is employed toinform the head set 200 the power transmission will now be performed(step S44). At this time, the head set 200 is informed of a resonantfrequency for power transmission. Subsequently, the power transmissionis started with the informed resonant frequency (step 45). In the headset 200 that has received data including the data of resonancefrequency, a process for contactless power reception at the instructedresonant frequency (step S35) and a process for charging of receivedpower (step S36) are started.

After starting the power transmission, in the communication terminalapparatus 100, the battery checker 143 monitors the amount oftransmitted power (step S46) and then determines whether the amount oftransmitted power in contactless power transmission reaches a settingvalue (step S47). If it is determined that the amount of transmittedpower does not reach the setting value, then the head set 200 determineswhether the data about the completion of charging is transmitted (stepS48). If such a determination also indicates that the charging is notcompleted, then the process returns to step S46 for monitoring theamount of transmitted power.

If the amount of transmitted power reaches the setting value in step S47and the charging is completed in step S48, then the power transmissionfor contactless charging is stopped (step S49).

If the head set 200 starts power reception in step S36, then it isdetermined whether the secondary battery is fully charged (step S37). Itis not fully filled, then it is determined whether the power receptionis stopped (step S38). If the power reception is not stopped, then theprocess returns to the determination in step S37. If these determinationsteps determine that the battery is fully charged or the power receptionis completed, then the charging of the secondary battery is stopped(step S39). Furthermore, if the charging is stopped, then thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 is informed of such a fact throughshort-range wireless communication. Therefore, according to the exampleof the present embodiment, if the remaining power of the battery in thehead set 200, which is used in combination with the communicationterminal apparatus 100, a process for making their resonant frequenciescoincide with each other to perform contactless power transmission.Thus, contactless charging can be performed, effectively.

Here, step S42 of the flow chart shown in FIG. 9 allows the user toselect whether the contactless charging is started. In contrast, if theremaining power of the battery of the communication terminal apparatus100 is equal to or more than a predetermined level due to a decrease inremaining power of the secondary battery of the head set 200, thecontactless charging may be automatically started. When automaticallystarting the contactless charging, the user may be notified of such afact by a sound, instruction, or the like.

Furthermore, the example of the second embodiment has been described sothat electric power is transmitted from the communication terminalapparatus 100 to the head set 200. Alternatively, the power transmissionmay be performed from the head set 200 to charge the communicationterminal device 100 when the remaining power of the secondary battery ofthe communication terminal apparatus 100 runs short.

[2.3. Exemplary Configuration of Third Embodiment]

Hereinafter, an example of a third embodiment of the present inventionwill be described with reference to FIG. 10 and FIG. 11. In the exampleof the third embodiment, just as in the case with the second embodiment,a communication terminal apparatus 100 and a headset 200 are preparedand designed to perform short-range wireless communication of audio databetween them when performing voice call or the like.

In the second embodiment, the power transmission is performed from thecommunication terminal apparatus 100 to the head set 200. In contrast,in the example of the present embodiment, short-range wirelesscommunication between the communication terminal apparatus 100 and thehead set 200 is performed. Thus, the communication terminal apparatus100 controls the power reception of the head set 200, while contactlesspower transmission can be performed from another charging pod 300.

The configurations of the communication terminal apparatus 100 and thehead set 200 of the example of the present embodiment are same as thoseillustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 7, respectively.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of acharging pod 300 to be used in the example of the present invention. Thecharging pod 300 includes a contactless power-transmitting coil unit 301that serves as a power-transmitting unit and a contactlesspower-transmitting unit 302 that controls the transmission of power fromthe contactless power-transmitting coil unit 301. The electric power tobe transmitted is one supplied from a power source unit 303 obtainedfrom any of various kinds of power sources, such as a commercial ACpower source or an automotive power source.

Alternatively, the power source unit 303 may include a large capacitysecondary battery or a solar battery.

A resonant frequency for power transmission from the contactlesspower-transmitting coil unit 301 may be determined by short-rangewireless communication, wire communication, or the like with thecommunication terminal apparatus 100. In this case, the charging pod 300may be desirably provided with a function of short-distance wirelesscommunication, wire communication function, or the like. Alternatively,a specific resonant frequency may be previously defined so that thecharging pod 300 can be provided for a specific communication terminalapparatus to supply electric current to only the charging pod.

[3. Exemplary Process of Third Embodiment] (FIG. 11)

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary process of the presentembodiment.

In this example of the embodiment, if the communication apparatus 100determines that the head set 200 has an insufficient remaining power ofthe battery through short-range wireless communication, the powertransmission is started at a specific resonant frequency from thecharging pod 300. Then, the contactless power-receiving coil unit 231 ofthe head set 200 receives electric power. In this way, as shown in FIG.11, the contactless power transmission Pd is started.

At this time, a resonant frequency received by the head set 200 isinstructed from the communication terminal apparatus 100 through theshort-range wireless communication.

At this time, simultaneously, the contactless power-receiving coil unit133 of the communication terminal apparatus 100 may perform contactlesspower transmission Pc as shown in FIG. 11 while performing the powerreception at the same resonant frequency as one received by the head set200.

In this way, the contactless charging of the head set 200 can beefficiently performed by carrying out the contactless charging of thehead set 200 by power transmission from the charging pod 300 based on aninstruction from the communication terminal apparatus 100. To theshort-range wireless communication between the communication terminalapparatus 100 and the head set 200 perform the transmission ofinstructions of starting or ending the power transmission, for example,the process described in the second embodiment with reference to theflow chart of FIG. 9 is applied.

[4. Modified Example]

In any of the aforementioned embodiments, power transmission between thecommunication terminal apparatuses that sere as wireless telephoneterminals, a power transmission between the communication device and thehead set, or the power transmission using a charge pot have beendescribed. Alternatively, any of the aforementioned embodiments may beapplied to power transmission between other functions. For example, thehead set may be prepared as one free of a microphone.

Furthermore, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, wireless communication Wbusing short-distance wireless communication or wireless communicationnetwork may be performed between a computer apparatus 400 and acommunication terminal apparatus 100 and the power transmission Pe maybe then performed from the computer apparatus 400 to the communicationterminal apparatus 100.

In addition, any of other electronic apparatuses may be employed as apower-transmitting side or a power-receiving side.

Although the aforementioned first embodiment a wireless telephonenetwork is employed in connection between the power-transmitting sidecommunication terminal apparatus and the power-receiving sidecommunication terminal apparatus. Alternatively, various kinds ofprocesses may be applied to the form of data. For example, a telephoneline connected to the wireless telephone network is used fortransmitting data of power-transmission conditions as data over voicegrade telephone lines. Alternatively, using another band for datatransmission other than audio data, data of power-transmissionconditions may be transmitted as data which can be identified by thecommunication terminal apparatus on the power-receiving side. Inaddition, data of power-transmission conditions may be added to controldata for telephone lines. Furthermore, it may be provided as dataincluded in E-mail and then transmitted to the communication terminalapparatus on the power-receiving side.

Alternatively, in the case of applying a short-range wirelesscommunication like the example of the second embodiment, any short-rangewireless communication system other than the Bluetooth system may beapplied.

Furthermore, in the example of the first embodiment, the amount of powerto be transmitted is specified. Alternatively, the remaining power levelor ratio of battery of its own terminal apparatus or the amount of powerto be transmitted may be specified. In the example of the firstembodiment, the description has been made for power transmission from asingle communication terminal apparatus to another single communicationterminal apparatus. Alternatively, two or more communication terminalapparatuses may be placed on the power-receiving side. The transmissionconditions, such as a resonant frequency, may be transmitted to each ofthe communication terminal apparatuses on the power-receiving side toallow two or more terminal apparatuses on the power-receiving side tosimultaneously receive electric power.

In the example of the first embodiment, furthermore, each of theterminal apparatuses may be constructed as one provided with apower-transmission function and a power-reception function.Alternatively, the terminal apparatus on the power-transmitting side maybe not provided with any power-receiving function. Simultaneously, theterminal apparatus on the power-receiving side may be not provided withany power-transmitting function.

Furthermore, to each of the embodiments, the terminal apparatus thatperforms power supply in magnetic resonance system is applied.Alternatively, another kind of contactless power supply may be applied.For example, in the case of using an electromagnetic induction system inpower transmission between the power-transmitting coil and thepower-receiving coil located in close proximity to each other, wirelesscommunications are performed between the communication terminalapparatuses to transmit power transmission conditions. Then, powertransmission and power reception corresponding to such conditions areperformed, so that contactless power supply may be carried out onlybetween specific terminal apparatuses.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication terminal comprising: a wirelesscommunication unit configured to communicate with another communicationterminal; a power transmitting unit configured to transmit contactlesselectric power to the another communication terminal; and a control unitconfigured control the wireless communication unit to transmit, to theanother communication terminal, an instruction for receiving thecontactless electric power transmitted from the power transmitting unit.2. The communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the wirelesscommunication unit is configured to communicate with the anothercommunication terminal via a base station of a wireless communicationnetwork.
 3. The communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the wirelesscommunication unit is configured to communicate with the anothercommunication terminal via a short-range wireless link.
 4. Thecommunication terminal of claim 3, wherein the short range wireless linkis a wireless local area network (LAN) link, a near field communications(NFC) link, a Bluetooth link or an infrared link.
 5. The communicationterminal of claim 1, wherein the power transmitting unit is configuredto transmit the contactless electric power at a predetermined resonancefrequency.
 6. The communication terminal of claim 5, wherein the controlunit is configured to control the wireless communication unit totransmit information indicating the predetermined resonance frequency tothe another communication terminal as the instruction.
 7. Thecommunication terminal of claim 1, wherein the power transmitting unitis configured to transmit the contactless electric power at a pluralityof resonance frequencies that vary in multiple stages over time.
 8. Thecommunication terminal of claim 7, wherein the control unit isconfigured to control the wireless communication unit to transmitinformation indicating the plurality of resonance frequencies and thetiming at which they vary in multiple stages over time as theinstruction.
 9. The communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the powertransmitting unit is configured to transmit the contactless electricpower at a plurality of resonance frequencies that vary continuouslyover time.
 10. The communication terminal of claim 9, wherein thecontrol unit is configured to control the wireless communication unit totransmit information indicating the plurality of resonance frequenciesand the timing at which they continuously vary over time as theinstruction.
 11. The communication terminal of claim 1, furthercomprising: a battery; and a display configured to display an amount ofpower remaining in the battery at least one of before, during and afterpower is transmitted to the another communication terminal.
 12. Thecommunication terminal of claim 1, further comprising: a power receivingunit configured to receive contactless electric power.
 13. Thecommunication terminal of claim 12, wherein the control unit isconfigured to control a resonance frequency of the power receiving unitbased on an instruction received via the wireless communication unit.14. The communication terminal of claim 1, wherein the another terminalis one of a mobile telephone, a wireless headset and a notebook personalcomputer (PC).
 15. A power transfer method performed by a communicationterminal, the method comprising: transmitting, from a wirelesscommunication unit of the communication terminal to anothercommunication terminal, an instruction for receiving contactlesselectric power transmitted from a power transmitting unit of thecommunication terminal; and transmitting, by the power transmitting unitof the communication terminal, contactless electric power to the anotherterminal in accordance with the instruction.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the contactless power is transmitted from the power transmittingunit at a predetermined resonance frequency.
 17. The method of claim 15,wherein the contactless power is transmitted from the power transmittingunit at a plurality of resonance frequencies that vary in multiplestages over time.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein the contactlesspower is transmitted from the power transmitting unit at a plurality ofresonance frequencies that vary continuously over time.
 19. The methodof claim 15, further comprising: displaying an amount of power remainingin a battery of the communication terminal at least one of before,during and after power is transmitted to the another communicationterminal.
 20. The method of claim 15, further comprising: receiving, ata power reception unit of the communication terminal, contactlesselectric power.